‘I’ve never wanted anyone to win a fight as much as what I want him to win’ – Mikey McKinson on younger brother Lucas Ballingall’s English title glory bid

And the Pompey Problem says he's never seen his sibling more focused than he has been in the build-up to his big title shot on Friday.

Ballingall is bidding to land the first belt of his professional career when he faces Myron Mills for the English lightweight title in Sheffield.

It's an opportunity the 24-year-old certainly will not want to let slip, having had two Southern Area and WBO European super featherweight title shots fall through already in his career.

While Ballingall has had to deal with disappointments as a pro, he's watched McKinson claim the WBC world youth, WBC international silver and WBO European welterweight belts prior to collecting the WBO Global strap live on Sky Sports Box Office against Chris Kongo in March.

Incredibly, 13-1 Ballingall - beaten in his previous pro outing in Belarus last August - was scheduled to fight for his first title before his brother had even collected a strap as a professional.

But after watching at close hand how unfortunate he has been in his pro career to date, McKinson cannot wait to finally see him get his big chance against Mills.

He said: 'Lucas is fighting for the English title and he’s better than I am.

'For him to watch me with my success ... he’s been a pro the same amount of time I have, I’ve had opportunities where he’s had failed opportunities.

'He’s finally got it and he went into camp straight after my win. He’s flying in camp and he finally gets his chance to win a title in the pro game.

‘I’m so buzzing for him, I know I’m getting a lot of attention at the moment signing for Matchroom and off the back of a big win, but it’s his time now.

‘Me and him live together so it’s a proper motivated household and I think we help each other out.'

McKinson was back in the gym and training after a very short break on the back of beating Kongo.

His gym return has coincided with Ballingall's camp ahead of facing Mills.

And McKinson revealed he has never wanted anyone to win a fight more than he is wishing for his brother to come through in Yorkshire.

He added: 'I only had five days off (after the Kongo fight) and I was straight back into the gym. I’ve been ticking over just so I don’t get fat. I went on a run with him and this was my first run back and it was about a week or 10 days after my fight.

‘I got my quickest 6-mile time out of all of my last training camp by about three minutes and he beat me by two minutes.

‘I’ve never seen him like this, I’ve never seen him so focused and I’ve never wanted anyone to win a fight as much as what I want him to win this fight.'